The Sixth Extinction & The First Three Weeks & The Squads First Three Weeks Omnibus [Books 1-10]

by Johnson, Glen

  On the work front Melanie was working her way through hundreds of Petri dishes, and microscope glass slides, supposedly of the two stages of the virus so far. She wasn’t told of their origin, but it disturbed her to note that they were all human tissue samples that they had to prepare the smears from.

  Also the dishes were sealed, and she was only allowed to open them inside one of the ten containment boxes stationed around the different laboratories.

  The slides were prepared inside the sealed boxes, with their HEPA filters, to stop the virus from being absorbed through the scientists skin. The slides were double sided, sealed glass, which was then placed onto an automated; computer operated system, so there was no need for human contact.

  In one laboratory, three rooms over, they were using the biocontainment isolator unit to transfer the human DNA samples into the Petri dishes, before being sealed ready for the containment boxes.

  So far, she has used every option available to her – with the universities Illumina high-throughput HiSeq 2500 and Illumina MiSeq systems. She tried Genome and Denovo resequencing, RNA-sequencing, small RNA, ChIP-sequencing, Meth-sequencing, and Bioinformatics analysis. She was running hundreds of test each day, with hundreds of samples per run. The data she was producing was mind boggling.

  There were eighty-seven of the scientist’s research assistants filling the rooms on the floor below, all scanning through reams of printed results and on laptops. Some of the more complicated runs could churn out six hundred gigabits of data in one session.

  Before everyone from the university was sent home, there was more staff to choose from, but as Melanie pointed out to the two black-clad doctors, they needed people who could understand what they were reading, else something important could be missed. She personally went through all two hundred and eleven lab assistants to hand pick the final eighty-seven.

  She was running out of options. Even with all their technology and facilities within the university, they were completely unprepared to handle such large quantities of data.

  And this was also happening in another seventeen facilities all over Great Britain, and the rest of the world. There were hourly updates from hundreds of other research groups. There were eleven scientists in a room just sifting through all the data in case someone somewhere was closer to cracking it.

  Every facility the world over could pinpoint the virus, and separate it from the host’s DNA to analyze it, but it was like nothing they had ever seen before. Every disease and virus had certain characteristics; that’s what placed them in their categories, but this was unlike anything anyone had ever experienced before.

  Exeter alone had thousands of virus samples sent to them every year, from around the world, and each one was different in its own way, but they all had traits – similar factors, all having mutated from another known virus. However, this one was in its own league – completely unfamiliar.

  She was told by Dr. Sementem and Dr. Zeru that she needed to map the different stages and alterations, and try to create an effective vaccine to stop the virus from spreading. But how could she create a vaccine when they didn’t even know what they were dealing with?

  11

  Monday 24th December 2012

  The Day the Virus Reached England

  Day 9

  Melanie kept her parents in the loop. Even her father started staying later at the breakfast table, so he could hear what Melanie had to say.

  They knew today would be the last time they saw her for a few weeks, or until the virus was stopped. They were hopeful, so far England was unaffected.

  Melanie’s three bags were ready by the front door. For the first time in years her mother was also sat at the table, rather than fussing over the sink, or cooker.

  There was no food on the table, just coffee.

  Her mother held her father’s hand. It was the first sign of affection she had seen between them in years. Yes, her father pecked her mother on the head everyday before going down into the basement, but that was from force of habit, not love.

  Her mother put her cup down and gripped Melanie’s hand.

  “We are so worried for you,” her mother stated, while using her thumb to rub the back of Melanie’s hand.

  “Surely they can’t make you go?” her father added. “It’s not right to force people to do things. This isn’t Korea; you should have a choice!”

  “It’s okay,” she said, trying to keep a positive attitude for their sake. She told them bits and pieces, but not the full extent of the problem. She knew they were both intelligent in their own right, and they knew she was holding back from them. But they didn’t press the point.

  “The news stated last night that Germany, Italy, and Frankfurt had confirmed cases,” her mother said.

  Melanie took another sip from her lukewarm coffee.

  “We’re close to breaking it now,” she lied. She tried to give them hope; it was better than telling them the virus was alien to them.

  Her father was looking straight at her, almost as if he was expecting this to be the last time he ever sees her. He reached across and grabbed her spare hand, creating a circle.

  Melanie couldn’t remember the last time she held both their hands at the same time.

  Why do we always put things off? We are always afraid to show our emotions. To hold one another. To tell one another we love each other. Just human nature, she decided. We don’t appreciate what we have until it is about to be taken away.

  “I will be home before you know it, and this pandemic will be a thing of the past, just like the swine and bird flu.” She gave a weak smile.

  All anyone had to do is watch the news, and they would see how desperate the situation was. That’s if they could find a channel that was working. The government was regulating the news feeds. Half the channels were just static. The ones that were working were showing reruns. And whatever station you watched, a figure dressed in military uniform, interrupted the program giving a governmental public warning every thirty minutes.

  The lights flickered and went out.

  They sat in the gloom. There were storm clouds outside, making it dark in the kitchen.

  The power flicked back on. The fridge gurgled and rattled.

  The power cuts were becoming more frequent. Luckily, at the university, they had their own generator big enough to run the whole facility.

  “I don’t see why we can’t contact you? Why you can’t keep your mobile phone close at hand?” her father asked.

  Strange? For someone who doesn’t talk to me for weeks, even months at a time, even though I live in the same house, and now he can’t; it’s affecting him! She pushed the thought to one side. Now wasn’t the time to dredge up family issues. Besides, things were different now, after his illness manifested.

  “They have their reasons.” Even though for the life of her she didn’t know what they were.

  The old saying, a happy worker is a productive worker, flashed through her mind. It was a proven fact. A good work environment made for better workers. Telling them they had to live in the university, and they weren’t allowed to contact family members was going to cause some real problems. It was almost as if they were trying to sabotage the workforce.

  “I rung the Chancellor last night. We talked for an hour. But I’m afraid she has no say in what is happening at her university anymore. In fact, I was shocked to learn she isn’t even allowed on campus!” Having worked in the Botany department for almost three decades, her mother still had connections.

  Melanie hadn’t told her family that she is in charge of the scientific side of the facility at the moment. Mainly, because in her mind, she was simply a figurehead with no real power. She was merely there to make the other scientist’s feel like the army wasn’t in complete control – which they were.

  Even after a whole week, the army officer in charge hadn’t even come and introduced himself. She would have gone to see General Hay, but none of the non military scientist’s were allowed in, or anywhere
near, the large gym. As well as armed soldiers walking the perimeter, they also guarded the entrances to the Great Hall.

  Melanie appreciated her mother phoning the Chancellor; she knew her mother would try everything in her power to help out. Sadly though, there was nothing she could do.

  Her father squeezed her hand. She looked up into his sad eyes. He was looking all his seventy-five years today.

  “You will miss my unveiling day,” he muttered.

  “Unveiling?” Melanie questioned.

  “I’m almost finished. A day or two at most!”

  “I will see it as soon as I get home. I know it’s going to be amazing... World changing!” She gripped her father’s hand tighter.

  He smiled back at her.

  Her mother was thankful that her daughter hadn’t broken her fathers dream.

  They both knew that there wasn’t any real project. Edward had been suffering from dementia for over a decade. He had to retire early because he couldn’t manage the clinic anymore – reality was slipping away.

  He had a rare form of dementia – frontotemporal dementia. Unlike normal symptoms, which affect the understanding and production of language, the cell damage in his frontal and temporal lobes affected his behaviour.

  A few weeks after he was diagnosed, he started heading down into the basement. Within a month laboratory equipment started turning up – test tubes, evaporating flasks, erlenmeyer flasks, volumetric flasks, funnels, extension clamps, beakers, bunsen burners, crucible tongs, and much more besides.

  His doctor told them it was good news; apart from his slightly odd behaviour he was perfectly normal for his age, and it was a slow process; he could stay the same for up to fifteen years before it became worse.

  Every couple of days Margery would pop down into the cellar when Edward wandered up for his midday siesta, just to check everything was okay.

  The basement looked like Frankenstein’s laboratory. Or more accurately, it looked like a glassblower had a really bad case of the hiccups. Three walls had benches against them, and those benches were covered in a network of connecting flasks and tubes. The fourth wall was covered in scraps of paper and hand-written notes. It looked like the wall of a serial killer’s lair. However, the topic was much different, the Philosophers Stone.

  Edward’s fixation was discovering the mystical elixir of life.

  However, after he first started going down into the cellar, Margery asked Melanie to check out what her father was boiling in the flasks. It turned out that the bubbling and simmering flasks and beakers were filled with only coloured water, coffee, and household substances watered down.

  But to Edward, it was real. He truly believed he was on the verge of a discovery that would change the world.

  “We will all need something to take our minds of what’s happening throughout the world. Your discovery will do that. It will be a balm,” Melanie announced.

  Her father nodded.

  “Yes, a balm. I like that word.” He went to reach for the pencil behind his ear. It wasn’t there.

  Her mother squeezed her hand, thanking her.

  The moment was interrupted by the doorbell. The army was here to take her to the university, against her will.

  She gave her parents the biggest hugs of her life. Then, as she was about to leave, after a soldier had taken her bags off her and put them in the small transportation vehicle, Melanie turned and grabbed them both at the same time.

  “I love you both so much. Take care, and I will see you both very soon.”

  The soldiers didn’t say a word as she climbed aboard.

  She felt like she was being transported to prison.

  With tears in her eyes, she had a feeling deep in her gut, as the vehicle pulled away, that she would never see her parents again.

  12

  Christmas Day

  Day 10

  It didn’t feel like Christmas day.

  The mood among the scientists was depression mixed with simmering anger. It was Christmas Day, and even though a virus was ravishing the world, they were still upset due to being separated from their families.

  There were reports of heavy-handedness when the soldiers went to pick everyone up. Dr. Stevens had two black eyes and a plaster across the bridge of his nose. Apparently, he had had an argument with the butt of a rifle, and lost.

  It was a bad situation made worse. Everyone knew they were fighting a bigger problem, a problem that was spreading rapidly. Overnight it was reported the virus was confirmed in another nine countries.

  Time was running out.

  Everything was turned up a notch.

  New shifts were arranged. Everyone would work twelve hours on, six off. The machines were to stay on constantly, and the data would be scanned through continuously.

  Melanie spent hours looking into an electron microscope. They were using all three types of microscopy. Others were using standard optical devices and advanced scanning probe machines.

  When she needed a break from staring into the microscopic world, she went into her office.

  All the data thought to be important was sent to Melanie. Her room was emptied of all furniture. The walls were then stripped of pictures and charts and her diplomas, and she had used a sharpie pen to write her theories and ideas on the magnolia walls, along with post-it notes and sheets of paper, looking like they were randomly stuck to the walls. Her whole room was now a whiteboard.

  The walls was starting to look like the basement at home.

  They just couldn’t crack it; no one could anywhere in the world.

  Tens of thousands of scientists, the best in their fields was working on this. What makes me think I can suss it out?

  Melanie was exhausted; she had been going all day, for fifteen hours straight. She sat on the floor in the middle of her room, just staring at the walls, hoping something would click.

  There has to be an answer. Every problem has a solution.

  She ran a hand through her hair. It was tangled and greasy.

  On the floor next to her was a cold half eaten shepherd’s pie on a plastic tray, and a crumpled can of diet Pepsi.

  She looked at the clock – the only object still hanging on the walls.

  11:14 PM.

  She wanted to scream. To tear at the walls until an answer presented itself.

  Her body sagged. She closed her eyes for a minute. Her head snapped up – she had nodded off to sleep for a few minutes while sat up.

  It was a light tapping sound on her door that had woken her up.

  “Sorry to disturb you Melanie, but there’s more paperwork for you.” Jeff stood holding a foot-high pile of folders.

  He looked even worse than she did. He hadn’t shaved for a week, and his clothes looked like he had slept in them. His casual unique retro style was now replaced with a casual homeless person look.

  “You need to get some sleep, Melanie.” Formality had gone out the window; everyone was using first names now. They were all prisoners, unable to leave.

  Jeff left the pile by the door.

  “My shifts over, but I gonna head downstairs and paw over some of the data for an hour or so.” He sounded so tired.

  Jeff was working hard to save his four sisters and mother. His father had left when he was young. He was the man of the house now.

  Melanie simply nodded. She gave him a wane smile.

  Jeff smiled back and wandered off through the laboratory.

  Melanie was too tired physically and mentally to move.

  Just five minutes more and I will head off to bed.

  Because only a small section of the university was cordoned off and barricaded, they had to sleep wherever there was space. Melanie’s bed was a military cot set up at the end of the corridor, in a windowless supply cupboard next to the toilets and shower room.

  She lay on her back, with her head to one side, just staring at all her handwriting filling the walls. The words blurred together as she fell into a deep sleep.

  13


  Thursday 27th December 2012

  Day 12

  The day had arrived when the population could once again wander the streets to collect supplies. It didn’t effect the scientists at the university; they weren’t allowed to leave. Everything they needed was supplied by the military.

  Melanie had heard rumours about civilians who had approached the barricades, asking the soldiers what was happening, and what were they hiding or trying to protect?

  They were all turned away.

  She became mad when she heard this. She remembered thinking, weren’t they supposed to protect everyone, not just a chosen few?

  Last night she had even heard gunfire, which jolted her from her sleep on the office floor.

  However, regardless of what happened outside she had a job to do.

  Melanie spent the first part of the morning scanning reports that the different departments had accumulated for her.

  It was coming up to 2:30 PM.

  She stood looking out of the window in her office. She rarely took a moment just to stand still and soak up her surroundings. She realized she hadn’t looked out of a window in days.

  In the distance, Exeter city had towering plumes of dense smoke curling up to heaven.

  She opened the window and stepped closer.

  Without the double glazing, the sound from the city washed over her. Alarms blared in the distance. She could hear shouting and fighting.

  What is happening out there?

  Below, to the right was the large gym. Soldiers stood guard. The army’s own scientists worked inside. They didn’t mingle with the university’s academic staff.

  She then realized the muted screams, and clattering sounds wasn’t echoing across from over the city; they were originating from the gym.

  As she watched a man dressed in a type II hazmat suit walked out of the door. He wasn’t wearing the mask; it hung down the back of the suit. He chatted with the guards on duty while he smoked.